EcoBot III

Energy autonomy

The early stage work for the EcoBot-III project, was funded by
EPSRC,
finished in 2007 and provided the foundation for the BREADbot
development. The main objective of this project was to develop a
robot with onboard fluid circulation, capable of collecting its
energy from the environment and getting rid of its own waste; all
of these functions are powered by the Microbial Fuel Cells
(MFCs).

Due to the challenging nature of this project rapid prototype
technology was fully utilised in order to produce a uniquely
designed, lightweight and strong robot structure comprising
multiple parts. Furthermore, because of the scarcity of onboard energy, the
team was required to develop ultra low power electronic circuitry
to operate the robot.

Ingestion/Digestion/Egestion Vessel

This is the upper most component of the robot which consists of
the ingestion, artificial digestion and solid waste excretion
mechanism. The image shows sludge within the vessel and solid waste
sedimented into the egester.

Sludge and Water Distribution and MFCs

This is
the middle section of the robot which consists of the sludge
distribution mechanism (white solid helical rings), and the
MFCs (24 in total)
which are shown just below the distribution mechanism. Underneath
the MFCs there is
an overflow collection tray which feeds back into the ingestion
vessel above.